Caribou picks new fundraising partner

Caribou Coffee Co. Inc. on Wednesday announced a new partner, CancerCare, for its annual "Amy's Blend" effort to raise money to fight breast cancer.

CancerCare will replace Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a prominent breast cancer charity that Brooklyn Center-based Caribou had worked with for six years.

The Komen foundation sparked a political furor earlier this year after it decided to stop making grants to Planned Parenthood. The charity eventually reversed the decision.

Caribou "did not switch because of the controversy," said Lisa Alcorn, a spokeswoman for the coffee chain, the nation's largest after Starbucks. "They re-evaluate their partnerships every year."

CancerCare reaches breast cancer patients directly, Alcorn said. It provides free services to cancer-stricken individuals and their families and caregivers. The Komen foundation is dedicated to research and education on breast cancer.

From Sept. 29 to Nov. 7, Caribou will donate 10 percent of the sales of Amy's Blend coffee and teas to CancerCare's breast cancer efforts. The firm had donated the same amount to Komen.

Amy's Blend honors Amy Erickson, Caribou's roastmaster who died in 1995 at age 33 from breast cancer.